Welcome to Toddler Tracks
All About Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Ho do I know if my child has autism?
Autism refers to challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. Autism affects an estimated 1 in 54 children in the United States today.
Symptoms include not smiling when you smile at them, getting very upset if they do not like a certain tastes, smells or sounds, repetitive movements, such as flapping their hands, flicking their fingers or rocking their body, and not talking as much as other children.
Tracking Healthy Growth
While all children develop differently, it helps to know if your child is meeting typical milestones and how you can support their healthy development. How your child plays, learns, speaks, acts and moves offers important clues. the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), our nation’s health protection agency, offers a Milestone Tracker app to help you understand your young child’s development.
Tracking Healthy Growth
Early symptoms and signs in babies may vary but can include lack of eye contact or decreased eye contact, being overly focused on one item, and lack of back-and-forth play. Toddlers children may show early symptoms like loss of interest in social contact and social withdrawal.
Treatments for Autism
No cure exists for autism spectrum disorder, and there is no one-size-fits-all treatment. The goal of treatment is to maximize your child’s ability to function by reducing autism spectrum disorder symptoms and supporting development and learning. Early intervention during the preschool years can help your child learn critical social, communication, functional and behavioral skills.A toddler with autism spectrum disorder can benefit from a number of interventions — such as behavioral therapies, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and play therapy — that focus on their specific symptoms
